The Horse Soldier: Beginnings Series Book 10 (28 page)

There was something very red about Joe’s face as he sat in his desk looking up to a very frazzled Henry. But the red disappeared as soon as Joe released the laughter he contained. Loud and roaring it was. Joe slapped his hand hard to the desk, leaned to the side of his chair, laughed harder
, and rubbed his eyes.

“It’s not funny
, Joe.”

“Sorry.” Joe blurted out more laughter. “You were running from bunnies?”

“Killer bunnies, Joe.”

“They chased you
, Henry?”

“Yes, fast too. That’s what’s on the screen
, Joe. Killer rabbits.”

“Like
Night of the Lepus
?”

Henry was so frustrated, he stomped like a child. “Listen to me
, Joe.”

“No Henry
, listen to yourself. Do you hear how ridiculous you sound? You tell me you were in the tree. You saw the grass move but you couldn’t see what it was. And then you tell me it chased you, or rather they chased you. These rabbits. And you believe yourself. Just like you believed Frank.”

“What?”

“Remember that one Easter he was telling the kids about how Peter Rabbit forgot to take his Prozac and went hay wire Easter Eve attacking Robbie in his bed. You believed him.”

“He sounded believable
, Joe. And this is true. I’m not exaggerating here. They squealed.”

“They squealed?” Joe asked with ridicule.

“Squealed like . . . like . . .” Henry slapped himself in the head. “Dean!”

“Dean squeals? Is there something you aren’t telling me
, Henry?”

“Huh?” The light bulb went off in Henry’s head. “Oh Joe no.” He shook his head. “When you were in the cryo lab the last time, did you see those six rabbits on the counter
, or rather hear them? Danny and I did.”

Joe stopped laughing. He stood up. “Let’s find
, Dean.”

^^^^

“Oh Hal, we can have so much fun with this
,” Ellen stated as she sat in the truck, riding with Hal.

“You really will do this?” Hal asked.

“Oh sure, I’ll play along. I’ll do it good too.”

“El, I appreciate this. I’m hoping that maybe if the men see how you are
, perhaps we can stop fearing any woman we run into.”

“But Hal.” Ellen held up her hand. “You guys are such gentleman compared to our Beginnings men.”

“Really?” Hal was shocked. “They don’t treat you with respect?”

“Some do
, but for the most part, they treat us like expectations.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Hal was offended. “My brothers too?”

“Not Robbie. Frank does. Snaps his finger at me and expects me to run.”

“Do you?”

“Well, yeah. It’s Frank.”

“You’re gonna have to stop that
, El.” Hal was disgusted. “And wait until we get my big brother back. I think I’ll sit down and have a word or two with him.”

“Won’t work.”

“It won’t?”

“No, he’s Frank and I’m Ellen.
He’ll never change the way he treats me. You can try though.”

“I will
,” Hal stated strongly.

“O.K. . . . Hal, this is so much fun
, this ride. I want you to know I’m enjoying this immensely.”

“Thank you. Me too.”

“I feel very safe with you and I don’t feel safe with many people.”

Hal smiled. “Thanks again.”

“And . . . that uniform and bandana.” Ellen gave a thumbs up. “Kicks ass for your sex appeal.”

Hal blushed some, but he blushed with arrogance.

“I wonder if Danny and Herb are having this much fun?”

Herb tried to pretend he was sleeping
, but that didn’t work, nor did it stop Danny.

“No, no , no Herb. Didn’t you hear
me?”

“I’m sleeping.”

“Oh no you aren’t.”

“Danny, I am.”

Danny peered at Herb closely, swerving the truck and causing Herb to scream. “Sorry.”

“Just . . . Just drive.”

“Sing with me.”

“No
,” Herb said annoyed.

“Just one song. Sing with me.”

“No.”

“O.K.” Danny tapped his hands on the steering wheel. A bright smile then hit his face. “Hey, I know.” He reached down and grabbed the radio.

^^^^

Dean had just finished checking on Jeremy in his post
-release from the clinic exam and then found himself in Ellen’s office, grinning from ear to ear, laughing softly as he listened to the radio. He laughed at what he heard, but most of all he laughed at the thought of Hal’s face, Herb’s face, and just about anyone else that tuned in to listen to the nonstop duet between Danny and Ellen.

Danny’s voice led the song. “
Mock
. . .”

“
Yeah
.” Ellen sang.

“
Ing
.”

“
Yeah
.”

“
Yeah
.”

“
Yeah
.”

“
Mocking Bird
.” Danny went off singing like he was some sort of super star. “
Now everybody have you heard . . .
”

“Dean
,” Henry called to him.

Dean, who was deep in listening, jolted at the call and shut the radio off. “Joe, Henry. Wasn’t that funny?”

“A killer,” Joe stated, “but we need to talk to you. We need a favor.”

“What’s wrong?” Dean stood up looking at Joe and Henry.

“Nothing really.” Joe pointed to the door. “Feel like taking a walk with us?”

“Sure
,” Dean said. “To where?” he asked as he followed.

“Your little cryo
-lab.”

Dean stopped walking. “Why?”

“Dean.”

“Joe.” Dean grew firm. “It’s my lab.”

“And it’s my community, Dean.” Joe snapped back. “I’m not demanding here, I’m asking. If this was the old world you wouldn’t get away with one tenth the shit you do here. Now instead of the FDA, animal rights, human rights and any other goddamn organization breathing down your neck, you have me. I barely bother with what you do there. Today there’s something I need to see. Now do you take me or do I just go check it out?”

Dean shook his head as he walked by Joe. “Fine
, but let me get in there first. O.K.?”

“That’s fine. If I don’t see what I need then I’ll ask. It’s nothing that you did
, Dean. It’s just something I need to see.”

Dean had a sort of pouting storm to his walk. “It isn’t right
, Joe. What we do in that lab is really Ellen and mine’s business.”

“Yes it is
,” Joe agreed, “until it becomes something that affects the community. Then it’s my business. You are way too defensive about this. Why is that?”

“It’s just . . . it’s my work.” Dean lead the way across the street and to the entrance if the tunnels.
During the whole walk, he kept wondering to himself what it was that he was doing that actually effected the community. On that, Dean was baffled.

Joe stared at his watch, then at Henry, and then at the closed cryo-lab door. “What is he doing in there?”

“Hiding evidence.”

“Of the killer bunnies?” Joe asked.

“Joe you shouldn’t joke around like that. Really, what if they are
?”

“Henry, for crying out loud
,” Joe scolded and the cryo-lab door opened.

Dean ran his fingers through his hair and opened the door wider. He looked frazzled. “All yours.”

Joe’s first step into the lab was slow and with shifting, suspicious eyes. “Dean, what took you so long?”

“I was uh . . . cleaning up.” Dean tried to hide the long breath he let out.

A slight gagging sound came from Henry. He spoke muffled as he pulled his shirt over his nose. “Joe, just ask him so we can leave.”

Joe sniffed outward harshly. “What is that smell
, Dean?”

“Smell?”

“You don’t smell it? It smells like rotten flesh.”

“Yes.” Dean said. “It is.”

Henry gagged. “Joe, why does he have rotten flesh down here?”

“I moved it to the back
,” Dean explained. “It’s something me and El are working on.”

“Rotten flesh?” Joe questioned. “May I ask whose?”

“Um, yeah. Robbie got it for us. It’s a piece of a deer. We’re trying to work on skin surface infections and we need some big tissue samples. We can’t get any human volunteers.”

“Gee, I wonder why.” Joe looked around. “Is that what you were hiding?”

“No. I mean, yes.” Dean took another breath. “What is it that you wanted to see?”

Before Joe could answer, he heard the bang of the cage. He looked to the counter to the six cages. “Them.”

“My rabbits?” Dean smiled. “Why?”

Joe moved to the cages. “They make noise, do they not?”

“Um . . .” Dean scratched his head. “Yeah. Oddly enough, yeah.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Yeah.” Dean answered. “But I can’t tell you exactly. We’re working on that. We’re kind of working on so much we can only do so much at a time.”

Henry nudged Joe. “Tell him Joe, Tell him.”

“Shh.” Joe silenced Henry. “Dean, are you doing something to these rabbits?”

“Of course
,” Dean replied. “That’s why they’re down here.”

“What?” Joe asked.

“Well, these babies . . .”

“Babies?” Joe was shocked. “How much of babies are they?”

“Three weeks.”

“Christ!” Joe exclaimed at the six of the rabbits that looked full grown. “What did you do to them?”

“While their mother carried them, I injected this serum I’ve been working on that speeds up the metabolism. It really doesn’t work well. We have a lot of bugs to work out.”

“And that’s all you’ve done to them
? This is how they got this way?” Joe questioned further.

“No.” Dean shook his head. “We created this high protein feed to help their weight, make them bigger. That’s sort of working. That’s what they eat. Is this why you’re here Joe, about my rabbits?”

“Yes. How loud do they get and do they squeal all the time?”

Dean was a bit surprised by Joe’s line of questioning
but he didn’t mind answering it. Obviously someone besides him and Ellen found some interest in his ‘special’ work. “They squeal loudly when they are upset. Actually, making noise isn’t new to rabbits. It’s just usually not that loud. Their vocal chords do seem to be larger. That’s what my best guess is on the sounds.” Dean tossed his hands up. “Is that it?”

Again Henry
, with his nose still covered by his shirt, nudged Joe. “Go on, Joe.” A bang at the cage startled Henry. “See Joe.”

“Henry!” Joe yelled. “Dean, how big will they get if they’re that big now?”

“Not very,” Dean explained. “They probably won’t live another week.” He saw the shocked expression on Joe’s face. “See, no matter how much we change the serum, the outcome is still the same. Their hearts are huge and they are growing faster than their bodies. I’ll show you what I mean.” Dean walked to a small fridge, opened it, and pulled out a cloth covered tray. He carried it over toward Henry and Joe and set it on the counter. He lifted the cloth.

Henry screamed in disgust when he saw the large rabbit without
its fur. The rabbit’s chest was open and spread apart. “Dean, put that away.” Henry began to gag.

Dean snickered as he showed Joe. “See the heart? It’s nearly the same size as his body. It gets too big and eventually it explodes from within. Too much exertion will cause premature cardiac arrest.”

Joe nodded. “I’ve seen enough.”

Dean shrugged
, grabbed the cloth, and carried the tray to the fridge. He stopped to show Henry the rabbit before covering it and placing it back.

Joe rubbed his chin, peering up at Dean. “So was the serum that caused the heart condition
? What about just the feed?”

“The feed makes them heavy. See, we’re trying to get more meat on the rabbits for better food consumption.”

“I see. Dean, any chance any of that feed got outside this community.”

Dean didn’t answer.

“Dean?” Joe raised his voice along with an eyebrow. “Any chance.”

“Maybe a small chance.”

“A ha!” Henry shouted. “I knew it. I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Dean wondered. “We left a little feed outside. It’s just protein, that’s it.”

“Dean, those rabbits seem awfully strong. They jump pretty high too,” Joe commented.